Planning a Conference

By 1969, the Washington, D.C., area members of the Society began discussing the idea of holding a large conference on the future. I had not encouraged them in any way to think about such a conference and worried that it might be premature. I doubted that the Society had the financial and institutional strength to take such a risk.

Still, I was impressed by one member of the group, John Gerba, who was willing to chair the conference. Gerba seemed to have the dedication (Seaborg’s word) to make it really happen, and eventually I gave the project my blessing.

Gerba, who was a city planner with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Transportation, became the conference chairman, and Wilson Sayers of the American Forest Institute became its treasurer.

Since I was totally ignorant about arranging conferences and so much would be at stake, I decided we had better get professional help for the project — even if we couldn’t afford it. So I signed a contract with Courtesy Associates, a Washington firm, to help with hotel negotiations, logistics, registrations, and other practical matters. Planning the program and inviting speakers would begin in earnest in 1970, and the conference would be held in 1971. But would anybody come? Once again, I was in a state of great excitement and great apprehension.